James Kessler currently serves as the President and CEO of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. Following a distinguished 33-year career in the U.S. Marine Corps, Kessler worked as the in-country program manager for the Logistics Civilian Augmentation Program with DynCorp International in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He then became the Vice President of the Materiel and Maintenance Division at LMI.
Kessler’s military career reached its pinnacle in his role as Assistant Deputy Commandant for Installations and Logistics (Facilities), where he managed and oversaw the Marine Corps’ Military Construction efforts, energy, environmental compliance, and performance oversight of all installations’ logistics functions. Concurrently, he served as the first Commanding General of the Marine Corps Installations Command, commanding 24 installations worldwide, leading a workforce of over 31,000 people, and managing a budget exceeding $4 billion.
Mr. Kessler holds a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Washington, a Master of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California, a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and a Master’s in Military Studies from Marine Corps University. Additionally, he is a graduate of both the Executive Program in Logistics and the Advanced Program in Logistics and Technology at UNC Chapel Hill.